Sunday, September 27, 2009

Being Vegan

Today I met an interesting runner from Hyderabad runners who is a Vegan. I always had a biased view against vegans and thought it is difficult and impractical to be a vegan (make no mistake a vegan is much more austere than a normal vegetarian).

Its like, the Non-vegetarian look down upon the Veggies and the Veggies look down upon Vegan and of course there are fruitarians. Again Vegetarians there are eggeterian (who also eat egg) and the real hard core ones (who don't eat onion, garlic etc).

Reference: Wiki

The point that hit me today is the vegans do not eat even diary products (biscuits, cream, milk, paneer, etc). I cannot even think of a meal or a diet plan without these. But the point that he (the Vegan) making is that how is this milk produced in the dairy farms. Most of us know but chose to ignore it.

Most of these animals are milked by practices that would astonish you and put you under immense guilt. Once these animals become incapable of producing milk they are sent to butcher houses.

Cow's Milk - What is it?

Cow's milk is a liquid secreted by the mammary glands of the adult female cow to nourish her young calf until weaned. Before the cow can produce milk, in common with other species of mammal, she must first become pregnant and give birth.The Modern Dairy Industry

Modern dairy farming has become an intensive industry. To produce maximum milk yields, dairy cows are pushed to their physiological limits through a combination of selective breeding, high-protein feeds, and the latest technology. Along with the production of pigs, chickens and eggs, milk production has become just another factory farm operation.

While many of us would choose to ignore this but that remains a fact and that is the milk we all drink in our Coffees and Teas. Due to the current lifestyle it is difficult for me to stop drinking milk all at once but then "milk (food) for thought" !

2 comments:

Informative and well written. Apart from the fully justified concern about animal atrocities, dairy farming's sizable carbon and water footprints are worth a definite ponder. While I have given up eggs, I have still got work to do on this front!